Various sterile packages have been proposed in the patent literature and many are commercially available for holding various medical components or instruments use for surgical procedures. One typical type of packaging consists of molded or thermo-formed sterilized plastic containers holding the components therein and itself being disposed within a sealed sack or flexible material pouch, so that the pouch can be opened in the operating room and the packaging placed on a sterile field to be opened to provide access to components therein. Examples of such packages are shown in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,697,703 (Will), 4,844,249 (Coulombe), 4,979,616 (Clanton), 5,148,920 (Walker), 5,165,540 (Forney), and 5,193,679 (White).
Guide-wires, catheters, and other elongated flexible medical devices for intravascular or other intralumen procedures have heretofore been packaged in various types of sterile plastic packaging for holding the elongated member in a compact, e.g., coiled, configuration. Examples of such packaging is found in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,925,448 (Bazaral), 4,811,847 (Reif et al.), 5,031,775 (Kane), and 5,125,417 (Nebenzahl et al.).
The above described prior art packaging, while generally suitable for its intended purposes, nevertheless leaves something to be desired from the standpoints of simplicity of construction, ease of use, ease of loading with medical components (particularly very long flexible devices), and safe disposal.